


Baby Ryder

by ShadowCr0w



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: F/M, Family, Fluff, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:13:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24684400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowCr0w/pseuds/ShadowCr0w
Summary: Sara has a kid from before the big move to Andromeda, just how people react as well as an insight to some of Sara's nerves
Relationships: Jaal Ama Darav/Female Ryder | Sara
Comments: 8
Kudos: 90





	Baby Ryder

Sara grinned as things were safe enough that she could finally,  _ finally  _ release her daughter from her stasis pod. It had been a risk to keep her separated but it had been the right move, it had been a more controlled environment for a nine month old and she'd come through just fine.

Of course, it was top secret that Sara had a daughter, even amongst the Hyperion's records because she'd been Alliance, Sara's father the damn  _ Pathfinder _ , and so many other things all put Ellie in a dangerous situation were she found out. The only ones who knew were her father, Scott, Lexi and Harry and one of those people was dead.

Sara sighed, her mother never even knew about her but… but maybe one day, Ellen Ryder would meet her first grandchild and namesake. 

The baby's eyes opened as she was in her mother's lap, the stasis bay rather empty with just the three who knew about her there. Even so, she'd never met Lexi so that would be an interesting reaction once she cried off the cryo-sleep. 

"Shh, shh, it's okay, mama's here." Sara stood up with Ellie, cradling her small, shaking body to her own in an effort to give as much support as she could to her shaken infant. "I know, it's weird, but I'm here, babygirl. You're here with mama and Uncle Scott… even Uncle Harry! You remember him?"

She made a little show of turning to Harry who made a silly, over the top peekaboo face to pull a watery giggle from Ellie.

"And this is Miss Lexi, she's mama's friend." It didn't go unnoticed to Sara the look of surprise on Lexi's face as Ellie properly looked at her. Like it or not, Lexi was a part of the family now and she had to live with that. "She also saved my butt!" That word never failed to get Ellie to giggle, she seemed to understand when Sara was being silly and reacted accordingly.

"How much does your crew know about Ellie?" Scott asked while Lexi was holding said baby and tiny, pudgy hands curiously grappled at the "tentacles" on the back of the Asari's head. "That's so cute, not going to  _ even  _ lie."

Sara chuckled a bit at that. "They don't know anything, I haven't told them because I didn't want to let myself be distracted from stopping the Archon. I… I did celebrate her birthday, by getting drunk and crying which I had to lie to Jaal about  _ why  _ I was crying."

"Oh gods, Sara! Your boyfriend?"

"Hey, I know he wants a family at least, I just… I just don't know how he'll feel abou well  _ this _ ." Sara gestured to where Lexi was actually smiling at Ellie, gently telling her about her thesis on Krogan adaptation, the tame version at least. Credit to Ellie too, she looked as interested as a baby could that couldn't understand many words but hey, at least she started to feel better. 

"Just tell him, all of them, the truth. I've met your crew, they'll understand." Scott said honestly and it wasn't a bad idea, Sara was just nervous as fuck to talk about a baby nearly no one knew about and she was even more nervous that they'd all feel betrayed that she never told them.

\-----------

"Why am I here?" Sara asked her crew blearily, grumpily contemplating ignoring all of them in favor of returning to her room on the Hyperion where she left Scott and Ellie. 

"We had a breakthrough!" Jaal spoke up after coming to greet her with an affectionate head press. "Using angaran healing techniques, we may have discovered something that could cure your mother's disease! It's at least an arbitrary year from perfection but it's a step. Peebee and Drack had the idea actually."

Sara was frozen in place. She just got her daughter back, now what she was hearing was that she could have her mother back too? And so soon? There was no way this was real, none of this could be real. She was going to wake up from a coma or-or something bad and find out the the Hyperion was missing, or her team, or-

"My darling?" Jaal's voice served as a grounding point for her, blessedly ripping her from the near panic attack. "I know it is a lot to process but it is good news!"

"I think she needs a minute." Cora thankfully spoke up and started ushering everyone out of the room. Her second gave her a cheeky salute, making Sara roll her eyes in response.

Really, Cora? Being relaxed? She's become a smartass. 

"Sara, are you alright?" Jaal asked her again and Sara attacked him with a hug. 

"Yes! I just, I accepted it'd be  _ years  _ before we could- I can't-" she kept stopping and starting before deciding to just kiss him to show her gratitude. "You could meet  _ my  _ mom." Sara breathed out in wonder, eyes closed with her forehead pressed to Jaal's. 

A delighted smile was on his face. "It is why we summoned you so early."

Sara grew a little mischievious, "Are you sure it wasn't because you missed me, Jaal Ama Darav?"

"Always." He took her hand before leading her away from the motor pool so they could go hide away from everyone on the Tempest for a while.

\----------

Scott was busy and Harry couldn't very well look after an infant while running the medbay on Meridian, which meant that it was time for everyone to be introduced to Ellie. Sara was both nervous and unbelievably excited, she  _ knew  _ everyone would love her but there was also a thought in the back of her mind that kept harping about the what ifs?

"Alright, Baby Ryder, our mission is to charm the entire crew of the Tempest. Understood?" Sara asked her daughter seriously, trying not to crack as Ellie was chewing on a stuffed toy, getting drool all over the hard plastic parts. "Pull yourself together!" She went on with her baby-talk, fake commanding officer voice which pulled a few giggles. "We have a serious mission, now, I'll brief you on who's who…"

Sara spent the next hour telling Ellie about her crew while they finished getting ready and while she packed a few essentials into a duffle bag that she got specially made from Scott as a gift. It was a cute little lavender bag with Ellie's initials on it, very stereotypical of civilian moms but Sara absolutely loved it because it was a hell of a lot easier than any other options presented to her. 

Their trek to the tram was thankfully quiet, only one Angara stopped her on the way to wonder over how different baby humans looked compared to their fully grown counterparts. He was respectful of her time, only asking a few questions before typing his "research" onto a datapad and let her go on her way. That gave her hope that Jaal would be more curious about Ellie than upset that she kept her daughter a secret from her boyfriend.

However, the nerves bubbled up anew when she was staring up the ramp that led into the Tempest. She  _ knew  _ they'd love Ellie, that they would understand her need to protect her daughter and it would  _ definitely  _ clear up why Sara was so eager to murder the Archon… 

"Alright, look alive Baby Ryder." Sara murmured to her daughter who was pressed against her chest in her sling. Ellie mumbled incoherently, sleepy from all the travelling but Sara knew she'd perk right up upon meeting so many strange, new people. 

So, she took a deep breath and walked into the Tempest.

"Commander on deck!" Gil's voice bellowed, no doubt carrying far enough for everyone to hear and well, it was now or never. "Hey!" He slid down the ladder upon seeing that she wasn't alone and hurried over to get a peek at who she had with her.

"Gil, this is Ellie." Sara introduced them and Ellie's wide, blue eyes looked up at him before she busted out a giggly grin that caused him to melt. "Ellie, this is Gil, I told you to not fall for his charms."

The man was an absolute sweetheart with her and eagerly wanted to hold her but Sara asked him to hold off until Ellie had been introduced to the rest of the ship. "Plus, wash your hands, ya grease monkey." Sara teased him and he quickly scrambled off to the bathrooms so he could clean up and hold Ellie.

Vetra, Suvi and Peebee were in the hold next and Suvi was immediately fascinated by the child. Peebee was apprehensive about a kid but she was at least asking questions about who she was and in wonder over how  _ small  _ she was. 

Then Vetra was wondering where her protective clothing was. "Turians have soft plates when we're born so we often wear… something like baby armor? At least until we're a few months and our plates have started hardening."

"Human babies don't have to worry about harsh elements often so they can gradually grow accustomed to where they are. Ellie is just out of cryo sleep, maybe a few weeks? So she's been in sort of in a quarantine, getting immuno shots which she absolutely hates." Sara cooed softly at Ellie who kept trying to reach for Vetra. "I know, the Turian is  _ cool _ . But you've met an Asari! So Peebee is cool too! Just, I don't think she'll let you tug on her head like Lexi did."

" _ Lexi  _ met her first?  _ And  _ she held her?" Peebee sounded incredulous because while Lexi had relaxed a lot since her first months on the Tempest, it was incredible to think the doctor would be so soft and vulnerable with anybody. "This is Lexi we're talking about, are you sure you've got the right Asari?"

"Duh." Sara shrugged as she placed a hand on Ellie's back gently. 

The aforementioned woman came in and Ellie immediately squealed happily, recognizing her favorite playmate that wasn't her Uncle Scott. Lexi actually  _ beamed,  _ startling the other crew mates as she jogged over to take Ellie from Sara. "There you are! Did you miss me talking about the difference in Krogan and Turian plates? Or did you miss climbing on my head?" She honest-to-god laughed as Ellie babbled, seemingly talking to her and updating her on what's been happening.

Sara watched out for Jaal as he was the last to show up, she was worried most about his reaction and even Ellie's reaction to him. 

Such as she thought that, Ellie fell forward out of Vetra's hands towards Jaal with another little happy squeal as he caught her. He made a surprised noise, no one ever expects to suddenly be dive bombed by a baby, but he still caught her and held her on an arm so she could touch his face. 

"A child?" He asked, delighted as she clapped at his voice. "Hello, little one. Where did you come from?" Ellie nuzzled into him as he surveyed the group only for his eyes to land on Sara with baby gear in her hands. 

"Ah, well, now that everyone's here, um, meet Ellie Ryder. My… my daughter."

The silence that was in the ship was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. There was shock across all of them, none of them quite knew how to process it at first but Sara believed that, well, maybe it'd work out.

"Oh my  _ spirits."  _ Vetra gasped dramatically, breaking the silence. "I'm an aunt! Hell yeah!" 

Her brave exclamation set off a chain reaction as the rest of the crew claimed a familial role, even Drack who claimed that Ellie was now his great-granddaughter and he needed to make her something to prove his worth as her great-grandfather. Sara thought that was the sweetest thing ever but she was a little, or a lot, concerned about that Jaal was now crying.

"What do you want me to be to her?" He asked, holding Ellie against his chest in wonder. "Is her birth father-?"

"Dead. Batarian attack." Sara cut him off, not ready to talk about what happened even though it happened when she was pregnant. "It depends, would you even want to raise a human child? You don't have to do anything you don't want to but, it's- it's just I need to know because I love  _ you _ but-"

"I would be honored to raise her with you." He stopped her rambling with a hug, squishing Ellie between them as the girl giggled more. "I also believe Cora 'herded' everyone out." His one side quotation marks made Sara laugh because she loved whenever he did that. 

"But really? You'd wanna be her dad?"

"My love, nothing would honor me more."

**Works inspired by this one:**

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